


on the topic of sleep

by riverdalenerdlol



Series: the adventures of Bughead and Toffee [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Betty can't fall asleep until she figures something out, Betty is obsessed with her job, Evidence, F/M, Fluff, Fluffy Cat, Hugs, Investigation, Jughead helps, Jughead wants her to sleep, Sleepy Cuddles, Toffee is a normal disgruntled cat, Toffee wants to do whatever tf she wants, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and angst without plot, it contrasts with porn without plot, this is fluff without plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 10:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30121431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riverdalenerdlol/pseuds/riverdalenerdlol
Summary: Still rummaging through a stack of pictures of crime scenes, Betty hears a heavy sigh. She knows it’s Jughead probably turning over in his sleep.Toffee objects at being woken again, ever the disgruntled cat, and confirms Betty’s thought.Betty almost screams when she feels a hand touch the crown of her head. Her head snaps in the direction of the body attached to that hand and finds a half-asleep, zombie-like Jughead.His eyes are narrow, almost closed. His hair is all messy and pointing in a thousand directions. Betty notices the way he’s reaching out for her. His hands feel around, landing on the sides of her head, then her face, and his warm, callused palms eventually find the solidity of her shoulders. He continues to move his hands like he’s not sure what he’s touching. His fingers thread through her loose blonde curls one time and a sleepy smile reaches his face.“Betty,” he mumbles.---OR: Betty is obsessed with her job, Jughead wants Betty's cuddles, and Toffee wants to do whatever the hell she wants
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: the adventures of Bughead and Toffee [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2216736
Comments: 11
Kudos: 89





	on the topic of sleep

**Author's Note:**

> This stemmed from my own incorrect quote about Jughead trying to bribe Betty into a better sleep schedule.... and it kinda wrote itself, so. Here you go. 
> 
> Toffee is my favorite character here, by far. Followed by shleepy Jughead and workaholic Betty.

Leaving the warmth of Jughead’s arms is just as chilling as Betty expects. In the darkness of her room, she finds her desk where she has case files strewn - coroner’s autopsy reports, pictures of people and crime scenes litter her desk. Betty can only make out what is what because of the moonlight filtering through her drapes. 

She isn’t making much noise, but Toffee objects to Betty’s late-night urge to work. 

“Shh,” she hisses, picking up the fluffy cat and depositing her on the bed. 

Toffee also objects to  _ this,  _ but it doesn’t take long for her to curl up on top of Jughead’s rising and falling chest. 

Finally seating herself at her desk, Betty starts sorting through case files and brown manila folders. 

The nightmare Betty happened upon was more informative than it was traumatic this time. Instead of the Trash Bag Killer finding and killing her, this dream was of one of the crime scenes and a small detail she had overlooked. This revelation was what had her springing out of bed and rummaging through case files. 

Because her mind was running at a mile a minute after said revelation, Betty knew that if she didn’t find that piece of evidence her mind wouldn’t be at rest enough to go back to sleep. She also didn’t want to wake Jughead. She tried not to wake Toffee, but that had already gone awry. 

Still rummaging through a stack of pictures of crime scenes, Betty hears a heavy sigh. She knows it’s Jughead probably turning over in his sleep. 

Toffee objects at being woken again, ever the disgruntled cat, and confirms Betty’s thought. 

Betty almost screams when she feels a hand touch the crown of her head. Her head snaps in the direction of the body attached to that hand and finds a half-asleep, zombie-like Jughead. 

His eyes are narrow, almost closed. His hair is all messy and pointing in a thousand directions. Betty notices the way he’s reaching out for her. His hands feel around, landing on the sides of her head, then her face, and his warm, callused palms eventually find the solidity of her shoulders. He continues to move his hands like he’s not sure what he’s touching. His fingers thread through her loose blonde curls one time and a sleepy smile reaches his face.

“Betty,” he mumbles. 

“Sorry, Jug, I—“ 

She doesn’t get to say more before he reaches down and wraps her in a hug. Betty finds it uncanny when Jughead said he’s not a fan of cats then radiates heat like one, just like he’s doing now. It’s true that he and Toffee compete for her snuggles and attention, but they’re both cats at the end of the day. 

Jughead hums approvingly when his head settles on her shoulder, nuzzling into her neck and blonde hair. 

“Bed,” he murmurs. Betty can tell by the sleepiness in his voice that he’s not going to remember any of this in the morning. It’ll all feel like a fever dream. 

“I just need to find something real quick,” she whispers, turning her head to kiss his temple softly. “I’ll be back in a minute.” 

“Nooooo,” Jughead whines. “It’s sleepy time.” 

“There’s something in the swamp that I missed and I saw it—“ 

“I miss youuuuu,” he says softly. “I need warm.” 

“You’re plenty warm on your own, Jug.” 

“Betty warmer,” he argues. 

“I’ll be fine. Go tuck yourself in,” she tells him. 

This upsets sleepy Jughead, causing him to be more aware of his surroundings. 

“But I’ll be so alone without you,” Jughead says. “It’s bedtime. I need my space heater.” 

“Use Toffee,” Betty supplies. “I need to find something real quick and then—“ 

“If I don’t get to spoon you in the next two minutes I will die inside,” he adds, dramatic as ever. “This can wait until morning. I need snuggles. Only Betty snuggles will soothe me.” 

“Are you trying to guilt me into healthy sleep patterns?” Betty asks, looking at him when he stands to his full height again. 

“Is it working?” Jughead replies, his eyes still narrowed with sleep. 

“I guess it is.” 

“Good. Let’s go. Time’s a wasting.” Jughead takes her hand and tries to pull her away from the desk.

“But I won’t be able to sleep until I find this photo of the swamp,” Betty protests, not letting herself get up. 

Jughead stops and sighs. “Which picture?” 

“I’ll know it when I see it.” 

“You’re so stubborn,” he mutters, letting go of her hand. Jughead walks away from her. 

Betty thinks he’s going back to bed without her, but he ends up grabbing a chair and placing it beside hers. 

“If you’re not letting this go then I’ll help,” Jughead says, starting to rifle through the images with her. 

Together they sort through crime scene images, Jughead making a specific stack of swamp pictures for Betty to look at. She had only gave him a vague description of what she was looking for - which disgruntled him - but that was only because there weren’t many details to go off of. 

Toffee, upset with both of them for abandoning their bed in the middle of the night, jumps up onto the desk. She pads onto the area Betty and Jughead are using to look through pictures. 

“Toffee, don’t you do it,” Betty tells the cat. 

It’s like Toffee wants to fuck things up on purpose when she lays down on top of the photos while staring directly into Betty’s eyes. 

“No, ma’am,” Jughead says to Toffee, reaching towards the ball of fluff. He picks her up and the cat protests. “We do  _ not _ get in the middle of mom’s crazy whim in the middle of the night, miss.” He brings Toffee into his lap even though she wants to be strewn across the desk. “The faster we find it the faster we can go back to bed, you idiot,” he whispers in the cat’s ear. 

“Thanks, Jug,” Betty says, leaning over to kiss his cheek. He blushes, holding Toffee in his arms, and mutters something under his breath about the least he could do. 

They continue to sort through images. Betty can tell Jughead is ready to go back to bed by the yawns he stifles down, and she can’t ignore her own urge to do the same. Toffee has fallen asleep in Jughead’s lap, though her tail is draped across Betty’s thigh. 

Jughead’s shoulder is leaning into hers when Betty finds it. 

“This one,” she says suddenly, breaking the silence in the room. Jughead jolts upright. 

“Huh?” 

“I found it,” Betty repeats. She can tell now that Jughead had fallen asleep sitting up. “See look here, there’s—“ 

Jughead cuts her off with a soft kiss. Once he cups her cheek she melts, and gives in when he pries the photo from her fingers.

“But—“ 

“Shh,” he whispers. “It’s bedtime now.” 

“The picture—“ 

“Don’t push me, woman,” Jughead says more firmly. “We found the picture, we can look at it again in the morning. It is now sleepy time.” 

“But I just want to—“ 

Jughead stands up. Toffee is once again unhappy to be woken, even though she’s being held in his arm. 

“Bed,” Jughead says. “I will tie you down if I have to.” 

“But—“ 

“That’s it.” Jughead grabs Betty and throws her over his shoulder. “We’re not doing this shit tonight. I need sleep,  _ you _ need sleep, and  _ Toffee _ is tired of this shit.” 

“Oh, so now you’re forcing me into a good sleep schedule,” Betty says. 

Jughead deposits her on the bed. “I tried being nice, but now that we found the photo, it’s sleep time.” 

Toffee inputs her opinion too, mewling at Betty as if she agrees with Jughead. 

“It looks like I’m outnumbered,” Betty sighs. 

“Yes, you are,” Jughead agrees, letting Toffee jump onto the bed beside Betty. 

He grabs her leg and spins her so there’s a pillow under her head. Jughead proceeds to tuck her in while lecturing her about how important it is that she get some good rest. 

He’s still talking when he climbs into bed beside her and draws her into his arms. 

“Now,” Jughead says. “We did what you wanted to do, and now we’re going to do what I want to do, which is sleep and snuggle.” Betty gazes into his blue eyes and gets lost in how adorable he looks when he’s sleepy. “You are extremely brilliant, and you are the best investigation partner I have ever had, but you have got to let yourself get some goddamn sleep once in a while.” 

Toffee purrs and presses into Betty’s shoulder with her paw. 

“Yeah, c’mere you,” she says to the cat. 

Toffee climbs onto Betty’s chest, eventually migrating down to her abdomen and curling up underneath Jughead’s arm that’s hugging her close. She purrs again, nuzzling into Betty’s t-shirt. 

Betty turns back to Jughead, whose eyes are slowly drooping more and more. 

“Thank you,” she says softly, one of her hands sinking into his dark hair. Betty twirls his curls between her fingers. “You’re always looking out for me. Thank you, Juggie.” 

He hums and smiles sleepily, leaning down to press a tender kiss to her lips. Jughead nearly collapses into sleep after that, his head falling on her shoulder as his eyes close. His breathing evens out and soon enough, she’s right there with him - asleep in their bed with their cat, happy as can be. 

When Toffee gets the zoomies an hour later,  _ Betty _ is the one that complains.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**_fin._ **


End file.
